As Always, Post your Royal Questions & I will get to them as soon as possible.
Question 1: When does Prince Harry get back from Africa?
Answer: Prince Harry is back in the UK! We will get our first glimpse of him on his birthday as he has a official engagement.
Prince Harry's other Engagements for September
Question 2: If the Cambridges go on a Royal Tour every year, why didn't they in 2013?
Answer: Catherine was pregnant, and the whole year was basically consumed by that and the new baby. Catherine started 2013 off with hyperemesis gravidarum. Catherine had been hospitalized in December 2012 with HG and was still dealing with that. She didn't undertake her 1st post-announcement engagement till late February.
Hyperemesis Gravidarum can be really really bad, and lead to multiple hospitalizations during a pregnancy. So, even if it was okay for a barely pregnant royal to go on a strenuous overseas tour, with HG it would be out of the question. The Doctors had no idea how Catherine's condition was going to progress.
Obviously, the middle of the year is taken up by Catherine being very Pregnant and then having a new born.
The latter half of the year, the Cambridges are still dealing with their new baby and being 1st-time parents.
In September, William left the Armed Forces for his gap year.
In January 2014, he starts his 10-week course at Cambridge University.
The other short answer is: They often start planning Tours a year in advance (Although they aren't announced till 1-3 months ahead of time). If the Cambridges knew in 2012, that they were thinking about having a baby in 2013, they may have decided not to plan any tour because they were uncertain about their plans. It was only in the last few months of 2012 that they knew for certain what their 2013 baby plans were.
Question 3: I haven't gotten a reply for ____ yet?
Answer: If you are waiting for a reply from Sweden for the Royal Wedding or Birth of Prince Nicolas, etc: I haven't seen anyone receive one yet. When I wrote after the announcement that Princess Madeleine was pregnant again, back in January, it took about 2.5 months for a reply. And given that this is summer and a lot of staff are taking time off for holiday it will probably take a little longer to receive a reply.
Hopefully by the end of this month.
If you are waiting for a reply from the Cambridge's for Prince William's birthday, Charlotte's Christening, George's Birthday: I haven't seen anyone receive one yet. I believe the Correspondence Section at Clarence House took most of the month of August off. They were behind on the letters. I have recently seen replies for letters sent for various reasons Pre-William's birthday. So They should be sending out replies for William's birthday soon, and then Charlotte's Christening & George's Birthday after that.
The replies should come in the order of events/they were sent.
If you are waiting for a reply from someone else: Remember 1-2 months is standard, and that during the summer it can take longer.
Question 4: Do you think Prince Harry will get back together with Chelsy Davy?
Answer: No. They have been broken up 5 years ago, and have both moved on. Even if the recent rumours about them meeting up in Africa are true, they are not getting back together. Chelsy has stated she doesn't want the royal life and has shyed away from the spotlight. They still remain friends and still have a number of mutual friends in common, so they are occasionally seen at the same events.
Question 5: Is it true Will and Kate are going on Tour to the Caribbean in 2016?
Answer: Short Answer: No/ No, we haven't heard anything official.
Long answer: Usually the Cambridges go on tour once a year. Usually a big tour and then possibly a smaller overseas visit.
So, we should expect to see the Cambridges go on Tour in 2016. My bet is without the children. But it just depends on where they are going, for what purpose and for how long.
Royal tours are often planned a year in advance, so it is possible that the tour is being planned and that the media got hints of this.
It could also be, someone got a hint of something that's not quite true, reported it, and then other news media reported that misinformation. It could also be a case of the Cambridges getting invited to visit the Caribbean, but the logistics not working out.
Remember when it was reported that Cambridges were going to attend the Annual Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Malta?
The rumour,
which many outlets reported as confirmed, was started by a comment from Malta's Prime Minister, Dr Joseph Muscat. He said the Cambridges have been invited to attend the meeting. But in reality, there was never any plans made for the Cambridge to attend. They get invited to thousands of things every year and have to say no to most of them.
Kensington Palace does not usually announce Royal Tours till 1-3 months ahead of time. So we won't know anything for certain for a while.
List of Overseas Tours and Visits
Question 6: How many Royals are Pregnant right now?
Answer: I can only think of 2 off the top of my head Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, and Lady Frederick Windsor.
Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel are expecting their 2nd child in March. This child will be 3rd in line to the Swedish throne, regardless of sex. The couple already have a daughter,
Princess Estelle, born in 2012.
Lady Frederick Windsor (Sophie Winkleman) is the wife of
Lord Frederick Windsor, the
Prince & Princess Michael of Kent's son. The Kents are the Queen's cousin.
Lord and Lady Frederick Windsor are expecting their 2nd child in January. He or she will be 48th in line to the throne, regardless of sex. The couple already have a daughter,
Maud, born in 2013.
Princess Eugenie is one of the Maud's godmothers.
Question 7: Why are some Royals HRH and some HSH?
Answer: They are both styles of address for a member of a Royal Family. The use of the two different addresses depends on the country.
HRH stands for
His/Her Royal Highness. It is used by most of the European Royal families for members of the royal family. When you are talking about 2 or more royals they are
TRH - Their Royal Highnesses.
HSH stands for
His/Her Serene Highness, It is used by
Monaco & Liechtenstein, as well as a number of now defunct Monarchies.
HSH is the equivalent of
HRH, although HSH is often used to address the monarch, where HRH is not.
HM stand for
His/Her Majesty. It is used by the monarch of a country. If the Monarch is a King and his wife is Queen, she will often use
HM as well. If the Monarch is a Queen, since King outranks Queen, her spouse often uses the title Prince Consort and uses
HRH.
HH stands for
His/Her Highness. This is used by a few monarchies for a number of different reason, usually to signify a family member who isn't granted the distinction "Royal" (Think children of the 2nd child of the king).
You will see these forms of address in different languages as well.
S.A.S. is French for
His/Her Serene Highness (Son Altesse Sérénissime
).
HKH is Swedish for
Her Royal Highness (Hennes Kunglig Höghet).
Question 8: Why does George always touch his ear when he cries?
Answer: I wouldn't read anything into Prince George touching his ear when he cries. We've only seen him cry twice (and that certainly not enough times to draw any conclusions) at a 2014 Polo Match and Princess Charlotte's christening.
Over the course of a cry, a toddler is bound to put his hand up to his ear at one point. There are hundred of pictures taken at each event and only a few show him with his hand by his ear. Plus, you have to think about why he might be crying.
These were both events where there was a lot of people and a lot going on, it can be a little overwhelming for a young toddler. His hand to his ear may have just been a response to the noise.
Question 9: Any mail from the Cambriges yet?
Answer: I've received a number of responses from the Cambridges. You can find all the ones I have blogged about
Here.
If you're asking if I have gotten any Recently? No, not since Princess Charlotte's birth. Clarence House was really busy with all the mail they got for Princess Charlotte's birth. It took them a while to get through it all (depending on when you sent your letter and where you sent it to response times varied greatly). Then came summer and they took a holiday for a bit. Which means things got backed up even farther.
They just came back from holiday at the beginning of September. I've recently seen a few responses from Clarence House for letters sent beginning of June, before Prince William's birthday.
So I would expect Prince William's birthday responses to be sent out soon, followed sometime after by Princess Charlotte's Christening, Prince George's birthday and Prince Harry's birthday.
